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Tag: Columbia County

Company F at Dayton: Military History in an Unexpected Place.

Company F at Dayton: Military History in an Unexpected Place.

Volunteer archivist, Whitney Wyngaert, discovered a Columbia County Poll Book which contained information that had nothing at all to do with polling voters. Instead, the volume’s ragged, faded label reads “Dayton Nat GR ’94.”  The headers printed on each set of pages claim the volume to be the “Registration Poll Book for Brooklyn Ward, City of Dayton, Columbia County., Wash., for the Year 1893.” The volume was transferred to the archives in 1990 from the Columbia County Auditor, and the…

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February special election ballots have been sent to 1.6 million voters

February special election ballots have been sent to 1.6 million voters

Although not all of Washington’s voters reside in a district that’s having a local election in this cycle, 32 of Washington’s 39 counties are conducting elections for local districts, such as school bond issues. Check our MyVote site to find out if you’re among the nearly 40 percent of registered Washingtonians who will receive a ballot for this election, the first of four scheduled for 2019. All ballots were mailed by Jan. 25, and the deadline to return them via…

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pen writing a tick in the box
Understanding the February Special Election

Understanding the February Special Election

Did you know there’s an election coming up on Tuesday, February 13th? Springtime special elections sometimes get overlooked, especially when it feels like the recent November election is so fresh in mind. But in the February 2018 special election, 65 percent of Washington’s registered voters are eligible to participate — that’s 2,753,553 people. Voters from all but two counties have issues and/or races on the February ballot. San Juan and Skamania are the exceptions, but not all other counties have…

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Voting time for August Library Jewels

Voting time for August Library Jewels

Over the past week, we’ve featured some of the rare, historical and interesting items found in our State Library through our monthly Library Jewels blog series. We’re now ready for you to take a final look at the three August entries and then choose your favorite. They include a 1784 chart of the Northwest coast of North America and coast of northeastern Asia, an 1873 photo of a Tacoma family having a picnic, and a 1934 map of Columbia County….

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Library Jewel #3: 1934 map of Columbia County

Library Jewel #3: 1934 map of Columbia County

  (Image courtesy of Washington State Library) Our third and final Library Jewel for August features a rare 1934 map of a county many of you might not know much about: Columbia, located in southeastern Washington between Walla Walla County to the west and Garfield County to the east.  The map shows a proposed reorganization area (perhaps for school districts), school district boundaries, existing schoolhouses and new schoolhouses “corrected to July 1 1934.” We plan to launch the online poll…

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Secret Societies and Vigilantes in Dayton

Secret Societies and Vigilantes in Dayton

From the desk of Steve Willis, Central Library Services Program Manager of the Washington State Library: If there is any doubt that Washington Territory was part of the Old West, the following information regarding vigilante groups in Columbia County in the 1870s-1880s should put that to rest. This week’s reel grabbed at random turns out to be from Dayton, in Columbia County, in 1878. But before we dive in, let’s let Robert E. Ficken set the scene from his excellent work,…

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Whitman County, Ellensburg, Pomeroy and Columbia County Add to Collections

Whitman County, Ellensburg, Pomeroy and Columbia County Add to Collections

As part of their 2009 Washington Rural Heritage grant work, funded by LSTA, four libraries have added brand new material to their previously published collections. Whitman County Library widened their digitization efforts this year and offered scanning services to patrons of all libraries in their district. Whitman County Heritage now includes material from all around the county — users can browse items by community from their home page and are able to view rare images from small towns like Ewan,…

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Dayton residents cast their ballots for library service!

Dayton residents cast their ballots for library service!

Good news for Dayton, Washington, and Columbia County. Residents of Dayton voted yesterday to annex into the Columbia County Rural Library District (CCRLD). This is a win-win for both the city and the library district. Voters approved the annexation by 74%. Trustee Chair, Tanya Patton, reports relief and joy after 4 years of work on this issue. Columbia County Rural Library District is the newest library district in Washington, formed by voters in 2005. Starbuck, the other of the two…

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